CARSON—CSU Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) will kick off its inaugural Distinguished Presidential Lecture Series on Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. with a program titled “Silent Gesture: Athletics and Courageous Conscience.” The featured speaker will be legendary Olympic athlete Tommie Smith, whose raised fist on the medal podium at the 1968 Mexico City games became an iconic moment in civil rights history.

The event commemorates the 50th anniversary of Smith’s protest. He will speak about the difficult decision to transform his personal achievement into a platform for speaking out against inequality and injustice, and how that decision impacted his own life and the course of the civil rights struggle.

Following Smith’s talk will be a panel discussion that focuses on how Smith’s courageous act has inspired generations of athletes to speak out on social and political issues. The panel will include retired NFL star Reggie Bush, who spoke out about the officer-involved deaths of Erik Garner and Michael Brown that made national headlines and sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, NFL Network reporter Steve Wyche, who first reported on Colin Kaepernick’s now-famous protest during the national anthem, Tamica Smith Jones, athletic director at UC Riverside, and Esther Dutu, middle blocker for CSUDH’s women’s volleyball team.

“Silent Gesture: Athletics and Courageous Conscience” will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m., in the Grand Ballroom of the CSUDH Loker Student Union. This is a free event, but registration is required. To register visit: https://csudh-distinguished-lecture.eventbrite.com.